There's nothing in the Bible about alligators, lions, saber-tooth tigers, and T. Rex being vegetarians, but those who believe there was no animal death before "the fall" believe it, I guess. Notice the teeth T.Rex had for cutting meat, not eating vegetation... did they change after the fall? Any fossils to confirm that?

What if T.Rex went running through the forest or one of those multi-ton dino's and they accidentally stepped on Adam? Either God would prevent it (some sort of force-field), or else Adam wouldn't get squished because he has a special body that could take it. I guess "the special body" option, because their bodies were special in that they didn't die until the fall.

Merv said:
"Of course, the evil would be in Adam's decision to be making death-defying dives more than in the continued action of gravity & nature after he has jumped."

It wouldn't be "death-defying" if death wasn't yet a possibility for him. It could be some sort of amusement, to see who could bounce the highest. ;-)

Of course, the evil would be in Adam's decision to be making death-defying dives more than in the continued action of gravity & nature after he has jumped.

The car crash is interesting, though. We choose to embrace a technology to take us at death defying speeds across pavement because we like to get places fast and without much effort. What civilization of idiots would ever expect that nothing bad ever results from that? I think the harder ones to answer are the hurricanes & volcanoes which aren't at all traceable back to human action, and as Keith said, contribute as part of a cycle that enables later life. (Although --even in those cases; when we have class structures and internationally extreme inequities in which certain populations can only afford to live in harms way --then of course tsunamis and hurricanes exact high tolls. So even there, it's hard to point the finger at God without seeing a finger pointing back.)

The evolutionary creationist, I suppose, would see evil more in our manner of willful participation that leads to death & suffering more than in the mere facts of physical death & pain which, according to evolutionary thought existed independently (in a physical sense) before human responsibility.

--Merv

George Cooper wrote:

Bernie,

I agree with your natural evil view.

As for accidental death by auto...that would explain why there were no cars

in the Garden.

I think the opportunity for death would be averted by intervention by either